Sewer-opening apparatus.



J. ALDER,SR.

SEWER OPENING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED DEc.20. 1916.'

Patented Oct. 2, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1 l. ALDER, SR.

SEWER OPENING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION min 0m20.191s.

Patented oet. 2,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1. ALDER, SR.

I SEWER OPENING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED Dec. 20. |916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.'

.iAooia ALDER, sn., oir sfr. iLoUis iyiisso-Uni.

snwnnfo'rniiine Afi'PAnATus;

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, JACOB AL'Dnn, Sr., a

citizen of the United States, andk resident of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certainy new and useful'mprovefy ments in Sewer-'Opening Apparatus, of

which thev following is a vspecification containing a: full, clear, and exact description, reference being had'to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to certain improved apparatus for use iii-opening up drains and sewers, and the invention consists in they novel ineChaiiiSm, and method, hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out p in the annexed claims. i i a l The object, of my invention is to` provide an improvedapparatus, whereby drains and sewers may be opened up with facility and despatch, whenever they have been rendered inoperative by obstruction of' whatever nature, without digging up and rebuilding the'sewer; thus saving both time and-eX- pense.

In the drawings,

:Figure 1 is a vertical section of a portion of a drain or sewer which has been rendered a inoperative by an obstructiomand showing my improved grabbing ldevice Vat .work therein.

Fig. 2 is a similar view, showingmy iin-f proved articulated cutting tool,with a rollercutter attached, cutting out grease which hasI obstructed tlie'drainv at a point beyond the trap. Y

with its fleXible-"wire-shaft' vin the drain a distance beyond the trap thereof.` :m

4 is a vertical section,enlarged, o my improved telescopic damand -guide-pipen Fig 5 is ia. verticali'section', showing the practical application of the telescopio-danil in useas a guide-pipe'for they insertion of Fig. 5 iSy a ,Similar vertical section,v show# specification of rttrs iatnt. A

Fig. 3 is a similar View, showing inyfinfifk Vproved reticulated cutting tool in use as a` leader,' in placing the cork-screwl tool i the purpose) ing-the earth-auger toolvin use boring a holein f the veartlitov alfordfaccess to the drain-pipe,r lbefore the insertion ofthe. telescopic-dam and'theflexibleshaft tool.v

' .Figi Tis a vdetailA ofa'portion of the. tele- Y z Y' 55 plan of a portion4 of my( Fig'. 16 is aI1end-elevation.'oftherollerf cutter, and4 `Fi-g. 17 is. a

side-elevation. of said roller- Cutter. i i f .f z

Heretofore, when a sewer, or a drain, has y f been stopped up bybricksbats, towels, leaves,

grease, dirt, or any other obstructions, it has: usually been thought necessary to go to the trouble and expense ofl digging a wide and deep? excavation in the earth, to uncover the obstructed sewer. or drain-.and tov dis-v vcover the location ofthe obstruction, and

then tear up the seweror drain', in order. to get at and removethe obstructing article or thing.

Y By'ithe use. of my improved apparatus and method I do away with the yexpensive dig. gin-g, in every case, and elfe'ctively open the y a Y Patentedoet. 2, 1917'. y

' Application iileci` December 20, 1916. Serial No. 138,070. i i

sewer orfdrain ata comparatively small eX- I pense fof-r time and labor. Y

Thenumeral l designates a common sewer l or drain-pipe, having the usual riser Qand .trap`3.'.l

`Toreiiiove the obstruction: 4 z wh ichI may be a towely ordirty rags) from-said trap it will only be necessary to insert through the said riser 2' the .grab-tool, which-consists of a shank. andalong pole 6 carrying the L` shaped jaws 7 and 8, and cause said'V jawsk to grasp saidfobstruction, when same can bev readily removed, andthe -pip'c cleared'.

Said jaws 7 and 8 have toothed or serrated edges 9 which bite into and securely hold said obstruction between them.

Said pole 6 is temporarily secured to said shank 5 by means of common bolts 10 whichv engage a series of holes 11 formed in said shank, so that said pole may be removed when desired, and used with other tools.

The said jaw 7 is fixed to said shank 5, preferably as shown, by making sameintegral with said shank, and forming a twisted portion 12 at the junction of said jaw and said shank, while the other jaw 8 is pivotally-attached to said shank by means of a common bolt 13.

A roller, or rope-sheave, 14 is mounted on a bolt 15 passed through apertures formed in said shank and in a brace 16, at a point near to said .fixed-j aw 7, and a suitable rope or cable 17 passes down said riser 2 parallel with said handle or pole 6 and has its lower end passed over said sheave 14 and attached to the opposite (or movable) jaw 8, so that the latter may be closed in re-l moving an obstruction, by merely pulling upon said rope.

The lower, orouter, end of said brace is secured to the said jaw 7 by means' of a rivet 18, thereby firmly bracing said sheave-bolt 15. (See Fig. 8'). A coiled spring 18a normally holds said jaw 8 retracted.

After removing the obstruction from the said trap'3, if it is found necessary to gofarther into the drain or sewer, to remove caked grease, or any other similar obstruction, I make use of my articulated cuttingtool, whose shank 19 is secured to the pole 6 by means of bolts 10. (See Figs. 2 and 3.)

Said articulated cutting-tool is composed of the shank 19, a short straight section 20,

Aa short curved-section 21, and a suitable cutting-tool 22, all consecutively connected to said pole by means of common bolts or rivets, such as 10, all of which, except those used in connecting said shank to said pole, act as pivots, to permit the different sections to move freely with relation to their pivots and to each other, except when limited by their iixed stop-brackets 23, which latter will be described in detail hereinafter.

Said stop-brackets 23 are made with crossbars which are extended across the sections,

in the path of the next adjacent section, to engage thesame and limit its pivotal-action, and cause the section so limited to pass into and through a curved or angular passageway, as in cleaning out the horizontal sewer orl drains 1, shown in Figs. 2v and 3 of the drawings.

Said stop-brackets 23 are secured in place preferably by being welded to their sections.

Said straight section 2() and said cuttingtool, the latter designated on the drawing by the numeral 22, are preferably provided vthan they with double parallel parts, and the crossbars of said brackets 23 extend across the space between said parallel parts and have their ends welded or otherwise secured to each member of each pair of parts.

The cross-bars are also located on both edges of said sections 2O and 22, the bars on one edge of same being narrower than those upon the opposite edges, for the purpose of permitting agreater movement of said sections upon their pivot-bolts 10 during operation.

The free outer end of said cutter-section 22 is attenuated, to form a cutting-edge thereat, and the body near said cuttingedge is curved, preferably in the saine direction as is'the curved intermediate section 21, both of said sections being curved thus to facilitatetheir passage into the curved or angular portions of the drain or sewer, such curved construction permitting said sections vto fit the curve of such portions of the sewer and drain as the trap or gooseneck 3, and to slide thereon more efliciently could if such sections ywere straight. j

In Fig. 2 I have shown. a roller-cutter attached, as an additional section, to the `said cutting-tool 22, for the purpose of cutting out caked bodies of grease, as 24, which may have obstructed the drain ork sewer, as I have found that a roller-cutter is more efficient in such cases than a pointed cutter, like 22. Such pointed cutter merely lpokes into, or scrapes off, the grease, while the'roller-cutter has a roller 25 the peripheryof which is flattened, and is adapted to` act as a pusher, to force the grease forward, and thereby clear out the grease. Said roller also acts to guide the cutting-tool 22 while same is being passed through the curved traps and bends of a sewer or drain.

In Figs. 16 and 17'it will be seen that the outer end of the holder 26 for the said roller 25 is forked, and the roller is mounted in the space between the forks upon a suitable bolt or pintle 27, the body of said holder beingcurvedin a direction opposite to that of the curve of said cutter 22.

The inner end of said roller-holder 26 is provided with a perforation 28 through which passes a rivet or bolt 29, for pivotally The said flexible-shaft 30 may be 145 feet long, if it is required to reach an obstruction which is that far away from the point of operation, as I have used the same in pracobstructions from a drain with a shaft# ofv that length.

I preferably make=said flexible-shaft of a single length of steel'wire of sufficient size, and form the cutter '29 integral with the outer free end of said wire.

rlhe operation of saidf flexible-shaft and its cutter 29a is shownV in` FigVB, wherein the said coiled cutter is first placed upon the said sharpened' cutter 22,` by inserting the free end of said last-named cutter within the' coils of said coiled cutter, so that the latter will be firmly attached to and carried by said cutter 22, so that the said coiled cutter will be forced into and along the passages of the drain or sewer, and the flexible-shaft 304 will follow after until the obstruction has been reached, when said sharpened cutter 22 is withdrawn from said coiled cutter, after which the latter is rotated as is f common cork-screw) to work its way into the obstruction and get a irm hold thereon. .Any common tool may be used to rotate said shaft.

After the coiled cutter 29a has gotten a firm hold on the obstruction, the latter may be removed from the drain by Withdrawal of the flexible-shaft carrying both cutter and obstruction, or the cutter mav be pushed farther up the drain and started toward its legitimate destination aided bv the water in the drain, and thereby the drain may be opened.

Said articulated cutting-tool is only used as a leader for the said flexible-shaft tool in passing through the goose-neck or traps of the sewer or drain, farther passage of said coiled cutter 29a along the drain, after the tran has been passed through, being accomplished merely by pushing said flexibleshaft forward. and rotating it 'at the same time if desired.

The telescopic-dam, shown in Figs. 4 and 5, consists of a plurality of telescoping secv tions, of which I have shown in the present instance but two, an outer (or main) section 3l and an inner section 32.

Said main section has its upper end bent at an angle. for the convenience of the workman. in inserting the tools hereinafter Amentioned, and both sections are preferably made of sheet-metal and provided at each end with external bands 33, for stiflening and protecting said ends from injury by contact with obstructions. The inner end of said section 3l also has an annular stop 34 which is contacted bv the external band' of suitable rivets, as 36, or by means of solder, or both rivetsland solder, comes in contactjwith the internal stopy 34 of said outer section, tov limit the movement of said sections in an opposite direction.

The uses towvliiclifiny telescopic-dam and guide-pipe maybe put are many, as for instance, it is illustrated in Fig. 5 acting as an earth dam, to prevent theearth from filling an' aperture previously madeVV in the earth by my auger-tool, presently to be described-in'detail, and which aperture is made use offin passino' other obsruction-removing tools, as my iexible-shaft 30 and cork-screw tool 29a, into an opening 37 broken in the drain or sewer pipe l, to reach the interior of the latter, to reach and remove an obstruction therein.

A hole is first bored in the earth by means of the auger-tool 38, which consists of a common auger-bit having a long handle 39 pivotally attached to the shank of said bit by means of a bolt 40 passed through the overlapping adjacent parts of said handle and shank, said hole being bored at an angle v for convenience of the workman, as shown in Fig. 6, until the drain or sewer is reached; then said telescopic-dam is inserted in said hole; then the opening 37 is made in said drain or sewer by forcibly striking said drain with the end of the said telscopicdam, or with the end of the said auger-bit, or any other heavy tool, such as a common crow-bar; and finally the flexibleshaft carf rying the cork-screw cutter 29L is inserted into said dam and passed therethrough into said drain or sewer through said opening 37, and the obstruction removed.

Or, if preferred, the articulated-tool, having the sharpened cutter 22 at its free end, j

may be passed into the drain or sewer in the manner just described, to remove an obstruction. v

A common set-screw 4l is threaded through the external band 33 and the internal stop 34, at the inner end of said main section 3l, so that the inner end of said setscrew will engage the desired one of the external bands 35 on said inner section 32, whereby the telescopic-dam may be adjusted to the required length.

In, view of the above description, no fur-` ther directions as to the operation of my invention need be given. l

I claim as my invention the following:

l. A cork-screw tool, for use in cleaning out sewers and drains, and consisting of a long flexible-shaft having a cork-screwshaped cutter at oneof its ends, a long pole, and an articulated tool composed of pivoted sections which are adapted to engage and pass through traps and bends in the sewer or drain, and to engage within 'and carry said corkscrew-shaped cutter into and through such traps and bends, so that said cutter may reach and engage obstructions While the tool is being used in a buried le which are located beyond the traps and sewer or drain. bends outl oi reaeh of the articulated tool ln testimony whereof, I have signed my alone. name to this specification, in presence of 2. Sewer cleaning apparatus comprising tWo subscribing Witnesses.

a telsoopio darn, in combination with .a long JACOB ALDER, SR.

i'leXible shaft having a Cutting tool at one Witnesses:

end, said dam adapted to prevent the earth HENRY L. HIGDON,

from caving upon said long iexible shaft JOHN C. HIGDoN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by raddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

